Post AbXFjX5PVGeD2FCBcG by prcutler@hachyderm.io
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(DIR) Post #AbX8AmyTjwyGUsRHzk by kyle@mastodon.kylerank.in
2023-11-06T15:07:27Z
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My 11-year-old son has expressed interest in learning how to program, specifically computer games. Back when I learned, BASIC was the way children learned, but I know there are quite a few better options out there today like Scratch, and I was hoping some folks in my Mastodon feed could give me some recommendations for frameworks I could use that would both teach him programming fundamentals and provide a relatively easy learning curve to a simple game.
(DIR) Post #AbX8sMIOICmmUnWpWa by walter4096@mastodon.gamedev.place
2023-11-06T15:15:16Z
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@kyle python is the best langauge to start with these days. it definitely fills the slot BASIC had in the 8bit days.It's beginer friendly, and it remains useful as a utility language and remains the main language used for all the cutting edge AI work.. and you can certainly make simple games with it , e.g using 'pygame' or whatever
(DIR) Post #AbX9IL27bo046rJ5KS by kechpaja@social.kechpaja.com
2023-11-06T15:20:01Z
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@kyle @Moosader, do you have opinions on this?
(DIR) Post #AbX9UK2V86mUVCCNZg by gizmomathboy@mastodon.xyz
2023-11-06T15:22:11Z
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@kyle hands down the best programming book I've ever read. Full stop.I looked at dozens of books about a decade ago when I wanted to introduce my kids Nothing comes close.It doesn't waste explaining this until you need to know it.It's the shortest path to getting dinner done. Also, like basic back in the day, JavaScript is on almost every computer.I can not recommend this more.https://pragprog.com/titles/csjava2/3d-game-programming-for-kids-second-edition/
(DIR) Post #AbX9WSjdlnik3DOh8q by leimon@social.librem.one
2023-11-06T15:22:37Z
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@kyle Towards this end, I recently used #tic80 for my oldest (a fantasy console). It supports a bunch of languages to write code with, but of those, I'd either go with Lua or Python.https://tic80.com/I write retro games as hobby myself, and I have found that a fantasy console like tic80 allows me to prototype out a game idea about 10x faster than using a modern game engine such as Godot.Hope this helps.
(DIR) Post #AbXA16J5CxQLT3aJX6 by losttourist@social.chatty.monster
2023-11-06T15:28:06Z
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@kyle Do you (or importantly your son) have access to a Raspberry Pi? They have a ton of resources for teaching programming e.g. https://www.raspberrypi.org/learn
(DIR) Post #AbXACGFoZ3z3VJNTVo by crazycowmm@mstdn.games
2023-11-06T15:30:05Z
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@kyle I spent a lot of time in BYOB as a kid (now called Snap) https://snap.berkeley.edu. And Minecraft of course
(DIR) Post #AbXAZX686cdsP8wcFs by kevinjardine@mastodon.social
2023-11-06T15:34:18Z
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@kyle My daughter started (and so far has ended) with Scratch. She loved the idea of dragging items around on the screen to make an interactive animation. Programming in Scratch feels like playing a game, which is not the same as regular text based languages.If I was going beyond Scratch I'd consider Python or TypeScript. Personally I'd lean towards TypeScript because you can use that easily to code interactive websites, which can also be fun.
(DIR) Post #AbXCSWmR5X5ZIhWJfM by kyle@mastodon.kylerank.in
2023-11-06T15:55:30Z
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@losttourist We have *so* many Raspberry Pis, but he also has a laptop running desktop Linux. It's those desktop Linux games that have inspired him so far.
(DIR) Post #AbXCoqM2zYKSNdomgK by losttourist@social.chatty.monster
2023-11-06T15:59:29Z
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@kyle I'd assume almost everything written to run under Raspbian would work under pretty much any other distro, so he still might be able to follow those tutorials
(DIR) Post #AbXEQCwC5jPJ5a6dFI by zombierustpunk@hachyderm.io
2023-11-06T16:17:28Z
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@kyle My kid mostly still uses scratch, but they also taught themselves python from a book from the school library. Turtle is probably the easiest way for kids to get started with fun graphics programming, but pygame has a pretty shallow learning curve as well. There are several good pygame books aimed at kids that age.
(DIR) Post #AbXF1uDM9Ujw1Z6pxA by chris@mstdn.games
2023-11-06T16:24:17Z
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@kyle Scratch is very popular for learning the basics, has many kids-friendly exercises and examples and it can run in a browser.
(DIR) Post #AbXFFwdJxKRpa1wrD6 by thomaswm@mastodon.social
2023-11-06T16:26:37Z
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@kyle You may want to give @MBoffin's Game Development w/PICO-8 zine a look. https://mboffin.itch.io/gamedev-with-pico-8-issue1
(DIR) Post #AbXFjX5PVGeD2FCBcG by prcutler@hachyderm.io
2023-11-06T16:32:07Z
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@kyle Checkout Edublocks: https://edublocks.org/ - it starts off with block based and can lead to Python and / or HTML
(DIR) Post #AbXFmijyd59Q36grhI by HauntedOwlbear@eldritch.cafe
2023-11-06T16:32:42Z
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@kyle I've been using Python and Python-based Edublocks for the 7 year old. There's a fun looking Usborne book on it, even!(They aren't developing a whole game yet, but I've written games in the language and it's fit for purpose.)
(DIR) Post #AbXFoKqURPmMWGVTjU by PaulRawlingson@mastodon.social
2023-11-06T16:33:02Z
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@kyle The Pico-8 fantasy console is a fabulous way to learn to make video games. It has an programming editor, graphics editor, sound editor and player all in the same application. It uses the Lua language and you can get something up and running with just a few lines of code. There are many excellent examples to get started with. There are also great games for it to get inspiration. You can also see the code from complete games and that is the probably the best way to continue learning.
(DIR) Post #AbXFt2zoEWjcbj72nY by devnull@crag.social
2023-11-06T16:33:53Z
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@kyle No answers here, but just reflecting on your post.It really makes me wonder how ANY of us got into this field considering the relatively horrible coding conditions. Green-on-back screen on my 286. DOS 5. QBASIC.You'd think it would've been much easier to watch television but somehow I persevered 😂
(DIR) Post #AbXFwVW8eDkZvxssts by bigzaphod@mastodon.social
2023-11-06T16:34:19Z
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@kyle Godot https://godotengine.org is a great thing for this because it's a real game engine with a lot of built in capability. There's a code editor built in and the default language, GDScript, is pretty simple and Python-like. There are a lot of absolute beginner tutorials on YouTube, too. All 3 of my kids have learned a lot of programming basics just by working through tutorials on their own or with me sitting by their side.
(DIR) Post #AbXHdri27AStAPgcJE by rubenwardy@fosstodon.org
2023-11-06T16:53:31Z
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@kyleI learned to program using Scratch when I was 11. It's really good for seeing the results of what you make on your screen, very approachable
(DIR) Post #AbXHqRH3i8Lmwd45YW by damiantrilling@akademienl.social
2023-11-06T16:45:07Z
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@kyle I really like the idea behind @Felienne ‘s https://www.hedycode.com
(DIR) Post #AbXId5hEj1LQDCVa5I by eliasr@social.librem.one
2023-11-06T17:04:44Z
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@kyle I recommend "Snap!", it's like Scratch but easier so use locally.
(DIR) Post #AbXIihu26OM89fAiLQ by eliasr@social.librem.one
2023-11-06T17:05:44Z
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@kyle link to Snap! : https://snap.berkeley.edu/
(DIR) Post #AbXMBJn18Iw7d6DzkG by qmacro@hachyderm.io
2023-11-06T17:44:22Z
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@kyle During lockdown I broadcast a series of "Code At Home" videos especially designed for young minds and those beginner programmers. I used replit as a platform, and JavaScript as the language, and went through the process of thinking about and solving basic programming puzzles (such as those on Project Euler). You may find them useful for your son 👉 https://qmacro.org/blog/posts/2020/04/02/code-at-home-episodes/
(DIR) Post #AbXU8wv1zhInkeM2m8 by jrwren@fosstodon.org
2023-11-06T19:13:38Z
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@kyle khan academies computer programming does JS and introduces drawing on canvas pretty early. I had success with 8-10 yr olds a few yrs ago.https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming
(DIR) Post #AbXhX3b27N62obpIW0 by dgoldsmith@mastodon.social
2023-11-06T21:43:33Z
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@kyle If you have a Mac or iPad Swift Playgrounds is a good way to get started.
(DIR) Post #AbYXKi51U5tSE1HtK4 by paul@social.van.buu.re
2023-11-07T07:24:00Z
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@kyle have you checked Hedy?https://hedycode.com
(DIR) Post #AbZBDsZc4HvkuQtSNM by kyle@mastodon.kylerank.in
2023-11-07T14:51:04Z
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Thank you everyone for all of your great suggestions! I have settled on trying two different approaches. I have ordered 3D Game Programming for Kids which is based on JavaScript, and Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python.Both are useful languages for him to know, and common languages for people to start with today, so I will review each book and decide which one to start with. If he doesn't take to the first language we'll move to the second.